Book Review: The Great Alone

The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah

• Raw and rugged

• Heart-wrenchingly painful, yet beautiful

• A tale that will live with you

• 4 Stars

*sniffles and blots eyes while saying I'm fine *

For me, this book is the cold and cruel Alaska, to the hazy and rigorous North Carolina in Where the Crawdads Sing. I found myself thinking of Kya and the marshland during some chapters of Leni on the frozen rivers and cold nights.

Leni and her family's drama and love made me cringe and want to reach out and hug her. A coming of age story set to a toxic parental relationship and a dangerous tundra environment, you just want to protect Leni from her own life.

I felt many times during this book that Leni, and children/teens like her, lose so much of their childhood to hope. She watched her mom have hope for Ernt and herself, she had hope for their fresh start, a hope to survive the winter, a hope that they’d stay safe. The idea of holding on, of willing it to be, of ignoring the bad for the slight bit of good - all that hope that seemed to steal what real happiness they had left.

As I mentioned before, this book made me think a lot of Where the Crawdads Sing, one of my most favorite books. A book that also ruined my heart. The way Leni and Kya both faced the literal wilderness as a secondary main character and antagonist. How I feel I’ve been to Alaska in winter and North Carolina swamps in summer through the vivid storytelling and how much it impacted the characters.

The way they both had fathers that were obstacles instead of caretakers, and mothers that were overwhelmed by it all. They both so quickly had to become their own support systems and advocates.

Then there are these girls’ first and only loves, the native to the area boys that are the other end of the spectrum of fortunate from them. Kya and Tate, and their boat rides and falling out in their teenage years. So similarly mirrors Leni and Matthew’s - and I won’t say more here but if you’ve read both books there are so many lovely storylines to compare here.

All in all, this book has been sitting with me and will continue to sit with me for a while. I feel as though traveled there and lived a lifetime with Leni through Hannah’s amazing storytelling and vivid descriptions.

I recommend pairing The Great Alone with a cozy blanket, some tea or cocoa, and a couple tissues.

My Synopsis: Leni and her parents, Ernt and Cora, have inherited land in Kaneq, Alaska and leave the safety of their Seattle house for the rugged, electricity deprived log house on the river. The winter's are harsh and summers are spent preparing for winters. And year round Leni and Cora weather Ernt's demons, violence, and toxic love. Only the truly strong souls survive Alaska.

To purchase this book online while supporting local book stores, Click Here!

To purchase any books I've reviewed and recommended, Click Here to visit my Bookshop.org page!